The present invention relates to safety marking devices, specifically, a vertically stackable safety marking devices that can be retrofitted to existing safety markers in the form of a modular traffic cone linking system that can be retrofitted to mount on existing traffic cones thereby allowing for standard traffic cones to be linked together in a predetermined arrangement so as to alert onlookers of a particular hazard or to impede access to a given location.
Standard traffic cones are known in the art and have been used as safety markers for decades. Standard traffic cones known in the art vary in size, material composition, and color; however standard traffic cones share the common features of a substantially hollow conical member rising perpendicular from a substantially flat base member that defines an opening sized and configured to receive the conical member of another traffic cone, thereby allowing multiple traffic cones to be stacked one on the other. Most standard traffic cones also include an opening at the top end of the conical member.
Standard traffic cones are mass produced and used either singularly or in groups of varying sizes to mark and otherwise alert onlookers of hazards on the ground. The ability to configure and arrange multiple traffic cones into configurations and arrangements limited only by the number of available cones has largely been considered a strength of the standard traffic cone marking device.
Configurations and arrangements of multiple standard traffic cones suffer from a fundamental design defect, i.e. the cones are not linked together. The failure to connect standard traffic cones into a single marking system renders the deterrent nature and the communicative properties of the marking device less effective than that of a marking system comprised of a plurality of standard traffic cones that are connected together.
In order to address this fundamental design defect found in standard traffic cones, the inventor invented the present invention, specifically a vertically stackable safety marking device system that can be retrofitted to existing safety markers in the form of a modular traffic cone linking system that can be retrofitted to mount on existing traffic cone thereby allowing for standard traffic cones to be linked together in a predetermined arrangement so as to alert onlookers of a particular hazard or to impede access to a given location.
The inventor of the present invention observed that most major metropolitan cities have large supplies of existing standard traffic cones and that by retrofitting existing traffic cones with the “cuff and linking member” system contemplated in the present application, the plethora of existing traffic cones can be put to better use and more effectively communicate hazards to onlookers in a cost effective manner while essentially recycling existing traffic cones.
The stackable nature of the standard traffic cone, i.e. the ability of multiple traffic cones to be stacked one on the other makes the standard traffic cone not only a cost efficient communicative device but also a device that does not have a large foot print thereby minimizing floor space needed for storage. As a point of fact, several traffic cones stacked vertically have the same foot print and therefore require the same amount of floor or shelf space as a single traffic cone.
With this in mind, the inventor of the present invention wanted to ensure that his invention could be easily stored in minimal floor or shelf space and therefore the same stackable feature was incorporated into the present invention.
An objective of the present invention is to provide a traffic cone linking system that can be retrofitted to be removably attachable to existing standard traffic cones.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a traffic cone linking system that forms a barrier between two existing traffic cones.
Still another objective of the present invention is to provide a traffic cone linking system that can be configured to link existing traffic cones in a plurality of geometric shapes.
Yet still another objective of the present invention is to provide a traffic cone linking system wherein the linking cuffs of the linking system are vertically stackable and therefore can be stored in a limited amount of floor or shelf space.
Information relevant to address these objectives can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,467,548; U.S. Patent Application No. 2006/0032426; U.S. Pat. No. 7,538,688; U.S. Pat. No. 6,053,657 and U.S. Patent Application No. 2004/0060499; however, none of these references are meant to be retrofitted to existing traffic cones to be configurable in a plurality of geometric shapes.
For the foregoing reasons, there is a need for a vertically stackable safety marking devices that can be retrofitted to existing safety markers in the form of a modular traffic cone linking system that can be retrofitted to mount on existing traffic cones thereby allowing for standard traffic cones to be linked together in a predetermined arrangement so as to alert onlookers of a particular hazard or to impede access to a given location.